


He's Not that Great

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Bullying, High School, Karate, M/M, dumb karate au, the kids are 18-19
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-01 07:36:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5197634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shenanigans at the Strider house.</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. The New Kid

Clouds hung heavy and white in the sky as it grew darker, refusing to prematurely give up their promise of what the news had lately been calling "The biggest snow storm to hit Texas". Of course, any hinting of snow became the biggest snow storm to hit Texas. One would think people would get used to it. He didn't mind though. It just meant less work for him considering no one showed up for the day's class. He had shown up early, unlocking the doors and waiting for the afternoon class to arrive, becoming slightly more annoyed each minute he waited. He didn't even receive a single call. Seriously, what ungrateful little shits.

Dirk Strider, or Bro as he encouraged the kids to call him whether or not their parents thought it was appropriate (He'd totally go by sensei Bro if he thought he could hear it without cracking up.) had just recently opened a karate studio. It wasn’t like he needed the job. No, he had enough money from his smuppet business. In all honesty, he was just a bit bored and figured, hey why not put his extra cash and rad ninja skills to good use. He taught a few small classes a day: ages 6-10 in the morning, 10-17 in the early afternoon, and 17 and up later in the day. 

After a little bit of waiting just to see if anyone was running late he sighed and began to pack up all of his shit to head home. His little brother was probably moping around the house looking for food anyway. Maybe if he was lucky, Dave would have ordered pizza. Yum Pizza. Now he was seriously hungry.

As he headed to the back to pack up a few more things and to shoot out a quick email about cancelling practice (even though no one was planning to come) he heard the chime of the door and answered without looking. 

“Sorry, kid class is cancelled today. No one showed. You should probably get home before the snow."

The response came back in a voice he didn’t recognize. “O-oh, uh, no. I was needing to talk to someone about signing up.” 

Bro quirked a brow and made his way back up to the front of the studio. The kid was tall and lanky, probably about your brother’s age. A senior in high school, he guessed. The boy gave an awkward smile, a pair of slightly large teeth poking out just past his lips as he ran a hand through his messy black hair, shaking wet drops from it. 

“Actually its already snowing."

Bro looks the kid over and hums, giving a soft nod. 

“yeah, I can tell. You’re getting snowflakes all over the place. So, what’s your name kid?”

“I’m John, John Egbert.” 

He straightens up a bit and smiles brightly, thrusting his hand out to the taller man who just stared at it like he was a bit confused. After a second, he looked down at his hand, still extended to the man, and his face fell a bit as he tucked his hand back into his pocket.

“So you’re wanting to join one of my classes?”

“Actually, I was wondering if you did any private lessons maybe?” John’s voice raised hopefully as he spoke.

He shook his head a bit, shades glinting in the fluorescent light. “Nah, kid. I’ve got three classes. You look like you’d be in the afternoon class with about ten others, but you’re going to be kind of behind everyone else.”

“Oh,” he replied simply, “Okay then. Never mind I guess.”

The bright white teeth showed themselves again as he gave a small smile, blue yes behind thick framed glasses lacking the joy to go with it. “Guess I’ll be on my way home. Sorry, for bothering you. I’m sure you wanted to leave before the ice settled. Thank you.”

John turned around and headed to the door, shoulders slumped a bit more then they had been when he walked in. Bro recognized that slump. That was the pouty puppy shoulder slump. Dave did that shit to him all the time. He sighed. 

John left, the door chiming once again as it was opened. Bro felt a bit bad for the kid, but he really didn’t feel like finding a time to fit him in between classes, and he was sure if he offered private classes this one time each and every brat he already taught would want the same treatment. The kid, John he reminded himself, would have to find someplace else. 

He finished packing everything he would need for his weekend, planning to close the studio until the snow let up. Then, grabbed his bag, shut off the lights, and picked up his puppet, cal from his desk before heading out to the nearly empty parking lot, looking forward to getting home.

He stuck his stuff in the seat beside him before climbing into the beaten up red truck and turning the heat on high. He absolutely hated this weather, and it was a long drive home from there.

He started he car, a soft roar coming from its engine as he did and began the drive home, music blaring loudly from his speakers. 

He’d been driving for a couple of minutes before he noticed someone, all marshmallows up in their big green coat, trudging through the snow that was already collecting on the ground. A closer look revealed that lump of fabric to be no other than one John Egbert. Just his luck. He sighed softly and pulled over, rolling down his window once he was beside the boy.

“You didn’t tell me you were walking.”

John jumped in surprise before looking over to the man in the truck. 

“Oh, heh, yeah. My car’s in the shop right now.”

Bro nodded and gestured to the passenger’s seat. “Hop in. I’d be an ass to let you freeze.” 

John smiled and nodded. “Thank you.” He went around to the other side of the truck and climbed in, buckling up and settling down to enjoy the heat. 

John’s house turned out to be quite a while in the opposite direction from where Bro was heading, but he took him there anyway, riding in silence on the way.

“Tell you what, John, if you’ve got the money, I think I can fit you in after my late class. How does eight o’clock sound?”

The two came to a stop in front of a large white house, snow dotting the roof and warm light spilling from each window. 

John smiled and unbuckled, climbing out of the pick-up. “Eight o’clock sounds wonderful. Thank you…” he trailed off looking at the blonde. 

“Just call me Bro.”

John nodded matter-of-factly. “Right, Bro. Thank you, Sensei Bro.” 

He closes the door just in time to miss him laughing his ass off in the front seat


	2. Little Brother's Best Bro

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shenanigans at the Strider house.

It was around three in the afternoon the next day when Bro finally rolled out of bed, his dark blonde hair messy from sleep and a trail of drool dried down his chin. It wasn’t often that he got to sleep this late anymore. It was amazing.

He scratched the back of his head and lazily made his way to the kitchen still in his boxers. He left his shades in his room not really minding if Dave saw him with them off. He let out a large yawn as he dropped two Poptarts in the toaster and waited, sitting on the cool counter-top. he laid head against the cabinets and closed his eyes, hoping for a few more minutes of sleep. What he got instead was his own trap triggered on top of him.

Soft felt asses fell on him one by one and landed on the floor letting out a chorus of squeaks as they did. He made a note to get back at Dave soon.

“Seriously, dude. We’ve got company. I told you last night I was having someone over.”

Bro let out an over exaggerated sigh and opened his eyes peering down at his brother with the orange orbs. Dave looked incredibly unamused as he stared back at him.

“Can’t I have anything, Dave? Why do you hate me? Don’t I feed you? Don’t I take care of you?"

Dave snorted and grabbed the poptarts as they popped out of the toaster.

“nope”

He turned around and offered one to his friend, who had just finished setting his stuff down by the door and come into the room. Bro glared at the smaller Strider, trying to snatch his food back. He stopped once he saw the kid his younger brother had brought home and who was now poking at one of the squeaky plushes with his foot.

“Well, hey look at that. Its no car kid. Keep your toes off the merchandise, dude. Only I get to mess them up.”

“Broken car kid,” John corrected. “Also known as John. I didn’t know you knew Dave. I mean, he’s always talked about his Bro, but i thought he just called you that. Guess I just didn’t make that connection. Do you make everyone call you that?”

Dave looked between the two and took a bite of the breakfast pastry. Then, without bothering to swallow first started talking, spewing crumbs.

“You two know each other?"

Bro shrugged. “He came in the other day, and talked with me about-“

he paused as he spotted John quickly shaking his head, eyes wide.

“…how cold it was…”

He gave John a funny look as he seemed to visibly relax, finally taking a bite out of the Poptart his brother had stolen for him.

Dave shrugs and grabs a bottle of apple juice before leaving the room, John following close behind.

“Hey, Egbert. Can you wait a second?”

John frowns and turns back, telling Dave he’d meet back up with him in a minute. He walked back over to Bro. Bro looked down at him from his place perched on the counter.

“Why don’t you want him to know?”

John shifts a bit, biting at his lip with those over-sized teeth. “Did you know you aren’t wearing clothes?”

Bro rolls his eyes.

“John, why don’t you want him to know?”

“Most people wear clothes when they have guests.” He added.

Bro stared at him not saying anything, just waiting for John to give in. Finally after a minute or so of lip biting and awkward shifting he opened his mouth again.

“I just don’t want him flipping out or telling my dad, okay? You know how Dave is. He’d probably get all butt-hurt I didn’t ask him for help.”

Bro nodded and shooed him away, hopping off of the counter so he could go get dressed.

“Alright fine. Go play with your friend Egbert.”

“Finally. Thank You!” He turned and scampered off to meet Dave in his room, making sure to pick up one of the smuppets, squeak it, and toss it at Bro first.

John went back to Dave's room and sat down on the bed where his friend was waiting, laid back with a game controller in his hand. The two had known each other for a long time now. They actually met through a mutual friend on the internet and talked there for years. Back then, John was home schooled and really didn't know many people so the internet was where he had to meet everyone. Luckily for him that worked out nicely considering they had moved to Texas mainly so hey could be closer to Dave and Rose. Dad had said that he wanted John and his sister to be able to go to school with their friends and in all honesty, there wasn't much left for them in Washington.

John felt something cold and hard plopped down into his lap and looked down to see a game controller. 

"Yo, Earth to Egbert. Come in Egnerd. Do you read me?" Dave smiled slightly as he looked at him, waiting for him to snap out of whatever he had been thinking so hard about.

"Loud and clear, good buddy. Egbert is coming in for the landing. He also calls playing as Mario."

Dave snorts and turns back to the T.V. "Why do I care, man I always play as Peach. You know that."

"Yeah Yeah. Lets go."

The two choose their characters and start their game, racing for a few hours, a constant back and forth of wins for both of them. This was the norm for them on the weekends, though usually they were at John's house. Dad loved Dave's company, or anyone's really, and Dave always had some sort of excuse as to why they couldn't play at his place (usually to do with his brother.) 

It was an hour or so before they changed games, and almost as soon as they did, Dave's door opened, and a bag of Doritos and two bottles of Apple juice just appeared on the bed. John looked confused, but Dave only crossed his arms. 

"What do you want?"

A deep voice spoke up from behind them on the bed, making John jump. Holy shit, how did he get there so fast? He hadn't even seen him.

"I'm just paying my dues to my lovely little brother is all. Let me play." 

Dave argued against the infringement on best friend time for a while, but finally gave up due to the extreme want for the snacks that had been offered. After giving bro a controller, Dave went for the snacks, opening up his apple juice first. He took a sip only to make the most horrified, scratch that, the most anything face John had even seen and spit it out. 

"Holy shit you're trying to kill me. What is your deal."

Bro, who's glasses had been returned to their rightful spot upon his face, didn't show any sense of remorse, instead sporting the usual Strider straight face. 

"I didn't do anything. Little dish soap and water ain't gonna kill ya Dave."

Dave glared and opened the bag of Doritos, hoping to wash the awful taste out. He frowned down into the bag and turned it upside down, a clump of colorful plush puppets falling out. John just stared at the little pile. How did he get them in their and seal the bag back so nicely? How did Dave not feel the difference between these and chips? These were things John needed to know.

"They're keychains Dave. I know you love the smuppets. Now they can go on your keys. No, even better. They can go on your backpack."

"I hate you. I hate this. Seriously" Dave looked pissed. 

John looked overjoyed. He loved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have such an issue with staying in third person and not shifting to second. I am so sorry. This is a really short chapter, and I'm sorry i thought it would be longer than this, but hey, the next one is where it gets cute. I hope.


	3. First Days are Always Hard

It was another week or so before the streets cleared up, the fluffy piles of pristine white snow left as no more than black stained sludge. The schools were called back in much to the children’s disliking, and Bro decided to start practices back up. The little brats had gotten enough of a break, he’d hate for them to get rusty.

It was a Wednesday, the first day back when he saw John Egbert again. He showed up earlier than he had expected. After all, Bro wasn’t going to be able to fit him in until after eight o’clock. Coming at 4:30 really was early. 

John sat quietly in one of the chairs set up by the front windows for the parents and watched each and every class carefully as if he was being graded on just what they did. It was a few hours before Bro took a break, and having noticed John, went to go take the chair beside him.

“Yo, kiddo. What’re you doing here so early? Thought I told you eight. I’m sure you’re probably pretty bored sitting here with all these moms.”

“well my car isn’t back from the shop yet so i have to walk from school.”

“Why didn’t you just have Dave drive you? He’s got a car.”

John shook his head and Bro just kind of shrugged a bit before tossing a packaged, plastic wrapped uniform at him.

“Whatever, kid, that’s your choice. Go change and come back out here.”

John nodded and took the uniform opening the plastic and heading off to the back to go get changed. He came back a few minutes later in the clean white uniform and a scrunched up nose. 

“Do I really need to wear this? You’re just in a tank top.”

Bro crossed his arm and looked down at him.

“Yes you need to wear that, and take your shoes off. I paid a lot for these mats. You can keep your socks on if you want.”

It was very clear that John didn’t want to take his shoes off, because hell, feet are gross. He kicks the bright yellow sneakers off anyway and puts them to the side, wiggling his toes.

“Guess that’s why this place smells like sweaty feet”

“You bet it is. Your sleeves are kinda big. It might be a bit easier to move around if you roll those up.”

He seems to think about it for a minute before doing so, revealing skinny and slightly bruised arms.

“Ready then? Lets go. I’m supposed to tell you only to use this junk for self defense and what not, but honestly, I don’t give a shit what you use it for long as you don’t get me in trouble.”

John nodded a bit. “Got it. So…uh what exactly do I do?”

“Right, well the first thing you’re gonna need to focus on is stance. How you’re standing right now, with your legs together and your knees locked like that, you won’t be able to move quickly, not to mention, locked knees will make you pass out.” 

Bro stood with his legs apart, one foot in front of the other, showing john how to do it. 

“Look at me, you’re going to need to stand in a way that allows you to move quickly and efficiently. If you pay attention to how Dave stands, you almost want to keep like that. Relaxed but not too much. You got me?”

John just stared blankly at him, looking down at Bro’s legs and feet and trying to match what he was doing. After a minute or so of trying to figure it out, John felt a slight tug of one of his legs. He jumped a bit having not seen Bro move at all.

“You were over there. How did you..?”

“I do that, get used to it.”

He moved John’s legs so that they were in the right position, standing back up and gently putting his hands on either of the boys shoulders to turn him to the side just slightly. 

“There, see, doesn’t that feel a lot more comfortable?”

John nodded once again, taking note of how he was standing so that he would get it right from then on.

After an hour or so, John’s arms and legs were both sore even though it felt like he’d learned nothing at all. Bro had wanted to teach him more, but John just couldn’t keep up. He really wanted to learn, but it was a lot to take in and he totally had time. 

He changed out of his uniform and stopped to get some water from the water fountain. God, he had never appreciated water this much. It was just so cold and fresh. Holy shit.

Bro ruffled his hair softly as he came back into the main room and pulled his hand back, wiping it on his sweat pants.

“Gross, you’re all sweaty, kiddo.”

“Well yeah, you h-hardly let me take a break.” John was still a bit out of breath both from the practice and from gulping down water like his life depended on it.

“You signed up for this. If you want to learn, you’re learning my way.”

“But your way is hard.” He whined, just making bro laugh. 

“C’mon kid I’ll give you a ride home and we can grab some slushes. You earned it.”

John grinned and grabbed all of his things, slipping his sneakers on and heading out the door. 

“Fuck yeah! Slushes are the best.”

Bro snorted and let him into the truck, softly smacking the back of his head before going around to the other side.

“Language egbutt.”

“Haha sorry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is really short. Also, I realized I never have taken karate. I took taekwondo like nine years ago. Haha someone kill me please.


	4. A few Bruises

A month of sore muscles and slushes after practice later, John Egbert finally seemed to get the hang of it, and honestly, Bro was proud as hell. If it weren’t for the fact that he knew John didn’t want people knowing he was in classes, he’d ask him to join in with his afternoon class. Its not like he was bothered by the private lessons, he just figured John might enjoy having some friends to work with.

The door dinged as John stepped inside the studio, panting. Bro looked over from his comfy spot at his desk and raised a brow. Since John always just came right after school anyway, Bro had decided to bump his other classes back some to fit John in earlier in the day.

“S-sorry” John panted. “I know I’m late. I came as fast as I can.” He looked up at him and gave a half hearted smile showing off his busted lip and already darkening black eye framed by broken glasses.

Bro blinked a bit surprised and got up going over to him, grabbing some tissues on the way for him to clean up some of the blood. He frowned and handed them to him, taking his shades off to get a better look at his face.

“Fuck, kid. What happened?”

“It’s nothing really. Just a few bruises.” He looked up at him, clearly hopeful that he’d take it and leave him alone about it.

“Your lip is bleeding and that’s going to be a pretty wicked black eye are you really going to tell me that.”

John frowned and offered up a soft “I tripped?”

Bro shook his head and stood back up, going into the back for a minute and getting an ice pack. He came back, guiding John to one of the chairs in the room, removed his shattered glasses, and knelt down in front of him, gently pressing the pack to his eye.

“Was it your dad?”

John almost smacked him in the face as he frantically shook his hands.  
“No! Oh my god no. You’ve met Dad! He’d never do that!”

“I know, but I’ve still got to ask. So, it’s a kid at school then.”

John shifts uncomfortably and sighs. “Grades went in today” He looked at him and gave a small laugh. “The kids on the Football team found out I’ve been fudging their homework. I mean, it’s not like they really need a reason ever, but at least this time I deserved it.”

Bro shook his head softly. “So that’s why you wanted to do this huh? That’s fair.”

“It didn’t help me much though…” John frowned. 

Bro sighed. “Yeah, well, you’re still new, and it’s not like I’ve been teaching you much that’s gonna help when you’ve got multiple guys that are bigger than you to deal with. We’ll keep working on it, okay? For now though let’s get you a slush.”

“But what about practice?”

“My usual classes are going out of town in a few days, so I’m giving them a break. Maybe later tonight I’ll show you some stuff. You’re spending the night aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I’ve got my bag with me.” 

He nods and stands up, picking John’s bag up for him as he turns out the building’s lights. “Alright then, let’s go home.”

John nodded and followed Bro out to the car , holding his hand so he didn’t run into anything. Without his glasses he was pretty much blind as a bat.

Bro helped him into the car and he buckled up, resting his head back against the seat. His head was throbbing. Bro got in and frowned looking over at him. Maybe he would start picking John up from school until his car was fixed. It would give him a chance to go talk with the assholes who did this to him.

“John, do you want to skip slushes and go straight home?”

John looked at him and smiled softly, nodding. “Yeah, I’m a little tired. Beside, you’ve paid for enough slushes for me.”

He laughs softly and shrugs a bit. “You know I don’t mind. It’s not like they’re expensive, and you bring me cakes and shit.”

John nods again and lays his head back down, quiet for the rest of the ride back. When Bro parked he noticed that John had fallen asleep. Deciding not to wake him, he gathered his things and John’s bag before scooping John up and carrying him inside. 

He flash stepped up the stairs and had Dave open the door for him, setting John’s stuff down in Dave’s room and gently laying him down on the bed. John shifted a bit as he was covered up and Bro smiled.

“Night, Egbert. Get a good sleep, okay.”

He left, turning off the light and closing the door, warning his brother not to go in and wake him up. Dave nodded and scooted over for the other blonde to sit. Bro plopped down beside Dave and stretched out.

“Hey, any chance you know who got a'hold of John today?”

“Well, yeah. I saw him after it happened. Why?”

“I’m gonna kick their asses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's exam week and my motivation to do anything and everything is long gone. I owe everyone an update on this though, so here it is.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm too lazy to keep naming these.

Despite feeling as if he’d been hit by a bus, John was the first to wake in the morning and immediately went to see if he could find anything edible in the messy little apartment. He could count on one hand the number of times he’d been successful in this search. Bro simply did not care for shopping, and Dave was so spoiled with pizza and take-out that there was no way he’d ever do it. He had to get these guys to eat some real food, put on some weight. They were both too skinny. God, he was starting to sound like his dad. 

After a good ten minutes of digging through cabinets filled with trash and unnecessary weapons, he finally found some pancake mix and milk that wasn’t expired yet. With a little more effort, he dug out some eggs and got to work. He figured if Dave wasn’t awake by the time he finished he’d clean the kitchen up a bit. Maybe that would give the striders the push they needed to get the place fixed up. 

The apartment was nice underneath all the grime. There were tons of tall windows, wooden floors, and plenty of rooms. If they would just clean a bit, maybe replace the dirty old futon with a nicer couch, add a coffee table- the place would look great. Maybe it was like this for a reason though. Bro did tell John that he’d been living in the apartment since his senior year of high school. Maybe this is just how he liked to keep it.

With a sweep of his arm and a roll of his eyes, John cleared the oven of all of the shit sitting on top of it, smuppets falling to the floor with soft squeaks. If the old food in the fridge didn’t kill the Striders first, the fire safety violations around the house sure as hell would.

He cleaned a pan and slapped a generous amount of butter into it, waiting for it to melt all the way before cracking the rest of the eggs into the pan along with an entire bag of shredded cheese. Another pan was brought out for bacon and another for pancakes. Just like his dad, once the food began cooking, John was completely in the zone, paying attention to nothing but the pans in front of him.

Bro was the first to wake up, curious when the pleasant vanilla smell of pancakes wafted into his room and the sizzle of bacon reached his ears. Was Dave actually cooking? No way. His little brother didn’t do shit it couldn’t be him. He got up, keeping his comforter wrapped around him as he trudged through the junk in his home to see what the fuck was up. He let out a yawn as he made his way into the kitchen, causing john, who was currently plating up some delicious looking breakfast, to jump, looking back to see who it was.

“Relax, kiddo. Just me. Well, me and my cover.”

John laughed softly and finished plating the food, bringing one over to bro and tugging at his blanket. 

“I’ll trade you. It’s cold in here.”

“Yeah, cause the AC is working for once. Get your own cover.”  
“Get your own breakfast.” John pulled the plate away and grinned.

“Fine. We’ll share.

“Works for me.” John carried two plates to the living room and plopped down on the futon, leaving just enough space for bro to sit beside him. Bro joined him and took the plate from him, immediately digging in and leaving John to get the cover situation settled. 

Within less than ten minutes, both of them had finished their food and John had somehow wiggled his way into Bro’s lap and wrapped himself tightly in the blanket. Bro didn’t seem to mind, turning on the T.V. and resting his arms around John while the two of them waited for Dave to wake up.

“Do you really watch My Little Pony? I thought Dave was kidding.” John leaned back against him, looking up at him. “What happened to being a manly man?”

“Dude, ponies don’t cancel out manly manness. Ponies enhance it. They teach you friendship and love and-“

John shook his head and covered his mouth. “Nope. Ponies are lame. The lamest in fact. Especially Rainbow Dash.”

“Best not insult his horse child, bro.” Dave called as he turned the corner into the living room. His hair was a mess like it always was when he first woke up, and he still had a bit of drool on his face. “He loves her more than his own brother.”

“Its true,” came the muffled reply from under John’s hand. “She’s less of a little shit than Dave is. Also she has a pet turtle. How cute is that?”

“you’re a real dork aren’t you?”

“You betcha.”

John removed his hand, telling Dave about his breakfast in the kitchen. “when you’re done, we’re cleaning up the apartment.”

“No way are you making me clean in my own apartment, small-fry.”

“I definitely am. You’re doing the hard to reach places and the hard scrubbing. Dave and I will be on clutter control.”

“No way.”

John just looked at him, giving him a moment before pulling out his very best pouty face. It almost always worked on everyone and anyone, so why not bro. 

Bro stayed firm, watching him. “It isn’t happening.” 

John kept pouting and finally the blonde caved. “God dammit. Fine. One condition though, you’re coming with us to the tournament next week. You need to actually see what its like. I don’t expect you to get out there with the other kids, but you can help me out with stuff.”

John thought about it for a minute. That wouldn’t be so bad right? He could hang out with Bro. Even though he’d be busy, that would still be fine, and the place really did need to be cleaned.

“Hmm…Alright. Sounds fair.” John smiles at him and Bro holds a fist out for him to bump. 

“Let’s clean this place up then.”

After a bit of convincing, Dave agreed too, and as soon as he was finished with his food, they got to work.

Several hours and rotten food, smelly socks, and a ridiculous amount of puppets later, the place looked great. Just as John thought, the apartment was so much bigger and nicer looking like this. He also learned something new about the Striders. Both of them put their hair up in small ponytails when they worked, and both of them were big whiny assholes. It was really cute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really really sorry this took so long to get out, and the quality of it is not so great. I suck. I know.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, If you're giving this fic a chance that's really cool. I hope you're enjoying it. I saw this prompt on tumblr and thought it would be a cute idea for these two. I'm still in school and have a lot of A.P classes to worry about so I can't make any promises about when this will update, but if you ever want to shoot me a message about when it will update or anything you'd like to see added or fixed, shoot me a message at so-the-stars-will-fall.tumblr.com. Thanks <3


End file.
